Category Archives: Hard Truths – Alternative Perspectives

OBAMA’S NOBEL PRIZE WAS A “MISTAKE,” COMMITTEE NOW SAYS In a shocking moment of clarity, the man responsible for handing a Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama – before he actually accomplished anything – might have been a bad idea. In a book coming out today, former Nobel secretary Geil Lundestad writes that the committee…

From Gandhi and Mandela to Modi in South Africa By Dr Nitasha Kaul* As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits South Africa and other countries in eastern Africa, “SA Welcomes Modi Committee” invokes the names of Mohandas “Mahatma” Gandhi and Nelson Mandela to refer to the shared history of Indo-Africa interactions, emphasising #SiyakwamukelaModi. NITASHA KAUL…

By Countercurrents.org 17 June, 2016 Countercurrents.org The Narendra Modi led Indian government cancelled on Thursday the registration of Sabrang Trust run by social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand. Teesta and her NGOs are on the forefront of civil society campaign against the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, in which over 1000 muslims were…

GDP: Growth or Fudge? MOHAN GURUSWAM Sunday, June 05,2016 NEW DELHI: The government has now made it known that the GDP has grown from 7.2% in the December 2015 quarter to 7.9% in the March 2016 quarter. This should be a reason for much celebration, but the popular mood seems unmoved. For the statistical picture presented…

‘Fudged economics’- The BJP brand By Ranjan Solomon Facts about the Indian economy are often fudged or exaggerated by the current BJP dispensation. BJP’s spokespersons are often heard releasing statistics that inflate the levels of achievement of their government. Simultaneously, they seek to discredit the previous UPA regime for what are presented as misdeeds…

Punish Perpetrators of Babari Masjid Demolition As a secular humanist, I have no faith in the ‘super-powers’ of the religious structures but as a human right defender, I understand millions of people have because of inability of our state and the power elite in the society to keep people aware and provide them modern scientific…

Why Somnath cannot be a template for Ayodhya By Sudheendra Kulkarni* Only a negotiated settlement, based on mutual trust between Hindu-Muslim communities, can yield a solution to the Ayodhya issue – not the RSS strategy to make the Ram temple a symbol of Hindu triumphalism. The demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on…

Syria: The Uprising against President Al-Assad was Engineered in Washington By Eric Zuesse* Unlike so many online ‘news’ reports that are merely authoritarian trash because they don’t link to any of their sources (they rely instead upon dumb readers’ faith or trust in the ‘reporter’ or in the publisher, such as The New York Times…

Spare me Congress vs BJP debate: Arundhati Roy on why she’s returning her National Award Looks like the heat that the Centre is facing over the intolerant attitude of right-wing groups will not ebb anytime soon. Author, director, journalist Arundhati Roy has become the latest to join the bandwagon of eminent personalities to return their awards.…

Can Pope Francis clean up God’s bank? Untraceable cash transfers and a culture of secrecy made the Vatican bank one of the world’s most notorious financial institutions. But Pope Francis’s attempts at reform are meeting ferocious resistance At 6.30 on the morning of 28 June 2013 – just three months into the reign of Pope…

What did Colonialism do to India? RAM PUNIYANI A video of Shashi Tharoor speaking at Oxford on a debate related to the colonial period has been ‘viral’ on the social circuit for a while. In this video Tharoor makes a passionate plea to the British that they make reparations for the losses to Indian economy…

Editorial comment In Libya, imperialist persist with the rot A report from The Economist describes how Libya’s oil output has been slashed down to productions figures as low as 500,000 barrels a day. At its crest, it used to be 1.7m. This paltry sum is what keeps the country. Even so its sales are the…

16 The Milli Gazette, 16-30 June 2015 www.milligazette.com INTERNATIONAL by RANJAN SOLOMON The Modi establishment has taken some exceptionally retrograde steps as far as India’s long standing position on the Question of Palestine is concerned in the last year. His visit to Israel later this year…

Editorial comment Greece finally succumbed to euro pressures and signed up on a bailout agreement. It is apparent that it is an unequal agreement between unequal parties. You don’t argue with your school teacher because, right or wrong, the school teacher wins. It’s the same with the EU (led by Germany and France) vis-à-vis Greece.…

Comment Eric Zuesse an investigative-historian analyzes in a powerful analysis crisis on the crisis in Greece. “How Fascist Capitalism Functions: The Case of Greece” lays bare the crude machinations of global capitalism. He exposes the ruthless way in which big capital and international financial agencies intervene in a crisis only to create spaces for the…

The Islamic State in Libya: Slipping through the cracks of the political crisis As promising as the current political and militarized environment in Libya might appear to be for the Islamic State, the country is not quite ready to play social host for the group. Its expansion in Libya is the direct result of…

Mursi’s death sentence and the creation of a self-fulfilling prophecy Ousted president, Mohamed Morsi sentenced to death by Egyptian court The recent sentencing to death of former Egyptian president Mohamed Mursi and 121 others illustrates the farcical and politicised nature of the Egyptian judiciary which has, in the past two years, acted…

Will the Syrian regime survive? By Afro-Middle East Centre Following recent rebel advances and regime defeats in Syria, speculation has been rife among commentators and some among the opposition about whether this represents the imminent demise of the Syrian regime. Regime losses since the end of March, including the complete loss of a second major…

India turns Nepal’s tragedy into revolting hegemonic plan Ranjan Solomon Director Badayl and Editor Hard Truths It always seems that a catastrophe in the neighborhood is the signal for India to intrude, meddle, and leave behind a mess. The evidence of this is massive. And yet, strongly nationalistic (even the liberals among us) Indians wonder…